Alternative Becky and the Bard
by faeriedust12
Summary: Becky's school is doing her all-time favorite play "Romeo and Juliet." This story is based on the episode "Becky and the Bard." But who will play the lead roles in THIS production?
1. Chapter 1: Auditions

**A/N:** So, as you can probably tell by the title, this story is MY version of the episode "Becky and the Bard." I, like Becky, love the work of William Shakespeare and was thrilled by the idea of Wordgirl and Shakespeare combined. But I was kinda disappointed by the episode itself, and I felt bad for Tobey not getting to say even a single word at the auditions. So I decided to rewrite it! Some of it is right from the episode, but most of it is different. And, as always, Tobey and Wordgirl (and even Tobey and Becky!) pairing in this fic, yay! I hope you like it :)

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Wordgirl or any of the characters, and, no, I have no rights to the episode "Becky and the Bard." No copyright infringement intended.

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**Chapter 1: Auditions**

Wordgirl and Captain Huggyface zoomed through the window and into the hallway of the elementary school, changing into their mild-mannered alter egos Becky and Bob Botsford at the same time. Bob still held the disco ball that had helped them defeat the Energy Monster only moments before. Thanks to Wordgirl's super speed, though, they arrived back at school before the end of recess, just in time to hear Scoops say to Violet, "Sounds like we're both ready for the big audition."

"What audition?" Becky asked, joining their conversation as if she hadn't just been out battling a giant electrical monster.

"The audition for the school play," Scoops replied.

"_Romeo and Juliet_!" Violet added excitedly.

Becky gasped and grabbed Violet's shoulders.

"As in, my favorite play of all time, _Romeo and Juliet_?" she asked frantically.

"That's right, and auditions are this afternoon," said Scoops, only to become the next victim of Becky's violent shoulder grabbing.

"This afternoon?" Becky shrieked. She pushed away from Scoops, "Why didn't I know about this?"

Bob squeaked at her and held up the disco ball, reminding her of her crime-fighting escapades. Scoops and Violet merely looked confused by Becky's sudden outburst.

"Oh well, at least I've already got a couple of Juliet's lines memorized, I mean, it is my favorite play after all," Becky said, with an air of relief, "I just wish I'd had a little more time to prepare for this."

"I'm sure you'll do fine, Becky," Violet said in her sweet, dreamy voice.

"Aw, thanks Violet. You too! Are you trying out for Juliet?" said Becky.

"Uh-huh," Violet said with a smile, "But I'd be happy with whatever part I got."

Just then the bell rang, initiating the mad rush through the halls of students returning to their classrooms, and Becky and her friends followed suit.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur for Becky as she went over her lines in her head, scrutinizing what the best way to deliver them would be, and almost blurting out "Capulet" when Mr. Dudley asked her for the name of the second president of the United States.

Little did Becky know, but across the room someone else was equally enthusiastic about last minute preparations for the auditions…

Theodore "Tobey" MacCallister III poured over the extensive notes he had taken on _Romeo and Juliet_, the meanings of the archaic words, and the motivations of the main characters. Though Tobey had never done anything involving acting, he, like Becky, was an avid fan of the playwright William Shakespeare, and was determined to use his genius to the fullest and earn himself the lead in one of his favorite plays. Yes, Tobey was determined to play the part of Romeo.

After what seemed like an eternity to many eager young thespians, the final bell rang. Becky and her friends made their way through the crowded hallways to the auditorium, chatting excitedly and wishing each other luck. Tobey hustled through the crowds as well, clutching his armful of notes, and having somewhat more difficulty navigating, as people wouldn't move out of the way for him unless he shoved. In an incident involving a gaggle of belligerent third graders, Tobey's notes took the opportunity to free themselves and go spilling all across the floor. Tobey berated the children — who merely continued their exodus of the school without any concern for the disorder they had caused — as he scrambled to gather up all his notes before they were trampled. He grumbled and reached for a sheet a little farther away than the rest, but found that someone had beat him to it. He looked in up in surprise to see none other than Becky Botsford, also kneeling on the floor, and holding several sheets of his notes.

"Oh, they're _your_ notes," she said, seeming now to regret her decision to help pick them up, "Um, I think that was the last of them. Here you go." She stood up quickly and handed the notes to Tobey, who had risen with her.

"Erm, thanks," he said, taking hold of them. But something in the corner of one of the papers had caught Becky's attention and she didn't let go.

"What's that?" she asked. Tobey looked to see what she meant.

"Ahhh! Um, nothing, nothing at all!" he said, quickly snatching the papers from Becky's grasp.

"It wasn't nothing, it was a doodle," she said teasingly, "A doodle of _Wordgirl_!"

"You could tell what that was?" asked Tobey, blushing and glancing down at the misshapen sketch that was indeed his attempt at rendering the young super-heroine.

"Well, it sure isn't the most accurate drawing of m— mmm, Wordgirl, but it is wearing a bright yellow cape." Tobey's blush grew a few shades brighter.

Just then Scoops' voice came from down the hall a ways, where he and Violet had walked before realizing Becky was no longer with them, "Come on Becky, we don't want to be late for the auditions!"

"Coming!" she called back, "Um, see you," she said awkwardly to Tobey, then hurried off to catch up with her friends. Tobey sighed and headed towards the auditorium after them.

* * *

"All right," Mr. Dudley said as the students stood nervously onstage, "Now, before we start the auditions, let me tell you a little bit about _Romeo and Juliet_. _Romeo and Juliet_ is a play written by—"

But here Becky cut him off, flinging herself to the middle of the stage in her bard-induced excitement.

"William Shakespeare!" she blurted out, then, gesturing dramatically, "It is the story of a boy named Romeo, and a girl named Juliet who fall madly in love, even though their families don't like each other. It is a captivating, honest, and beautiful tale of young love." Becky was going to go on and describe the fights that broke out among the Capulets and the Montagues, the tragedy of the deaths of so many of the young people in the play, especially the two star-crossed lovers, and how this final measure led to the end of the inter-family feud, but Mr. Dudley cut _her_ off.

"Yeah. And now the auditions," he said, twirling his pen in a bored fashion, "Each of you will have a chance to perform a speech from the play, and the student who does the best job will get the role. Since there are so many characters in _Romeo and Juliet_, you'll probably all get a part, but there can only be one Romeo and one Juliet."

A murmur of excitement flew through the assembled children as they filed offstage. Despite the tumult, Scoops and Becky managed to emerge at the front of the line. In typical Scoops fashion, he pushed ahead of Becky and strode onstage. Though Becky did have a crush on the young reporter, she was a little annoyed, but his audition was already starting.

"Scoops Ming playing the role of Romeo…"

Becky struggled to stifle a giggle as Scoops proceeded to deliver not only Romeo's lines, but all of the stage directions he had added as well. Thankfully, he had only a few lines prepared, and it was soon Becky's turn. Scoops walked off and Becky walked on.

"Hello," she began nervously, "While I am a huge fan of _Romeo and Juliet_, I unfortunately did not hear about these auditions until this afternoon, and so I have not had time to work on my speech as much as I'd have liked to."

"Just do your best," said Mr. Dudley unenthusiastically, seemingly more focused on his box of Chinese take-out.

"Yes, but I really should have had everything fully prepared a long time ago, except I was busy figh…er, cleaning out my… family's basement!" So the Botsfords didn't have a basement, but hopefully Mr. Dudley would never find that out.

"It's ok, Becky," he said, rolling his eyes, "Just give it a shot."

"Ok, here goes." She took a deep breath, willing away all her babbling and jumpiness, and – as cheesy as it sounded – searching for the essence of Juliet. After a pause filled with only Mr. Dudley's munching, she began her speech.

"_Oh Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?_" Becky said, with all of Juliet's longing for the one boy she could never have, "_Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet."_ With her excellent vocabulary, she understood every word of the Bard's antiquated language, and it showed as she acted out the well-known lines with all the passion and sincerity of her fifth-grade self. She went on through the famous 'rose' lines and Juliet's wish that she and Romeo could put aside their names and familial alliances and simply be in love. By the time she finished with, "_And for thy name, which is no part of thee, take all myself,"_ Mr. Dudley had put down his chopsticks and soy sauce and was leaning forward intently, captivated by her performance. And he wasn't the only one. In the wings, where he had been jostled to the back of the line, Tobey had also watched Becky's performance attentively. He had to admit that, despite being pretty annoying, Becky Botsdford was an amazing actress when it came to Shakespeare.

"Ooh, wow. Not bad, Becky," Mr. Dudley said, the highest praise one was liable to get from him, "Next."

Becky was grinning from ear to ear as she walked off to join Scoops on the other side of the stage.

The auditions continued. Eugene went next, followed by a nervous dark-haired boy who nearly fainted onstage. Next went an Asian girl who showed off her acting skills by pretending to be a cat. Violet went next, but her fear of speaking in front of people got the better of her just like during the Young Inventors' Challenge and Friendly Competition. Still, she managed to get through her Juliet monologue before heading into the wings with Becky.

The next person to audition was someone Becky had never seen before, but was definitely one of the handsomest boys _ever_!

"Hello, my name is Hunter Throbheart, reading for the part of Romeo," the blond boy said, with a distinct English accent. Both girls in the wings swooned.

"Oh, who's that?" Becky asked Violet.

"He's Hunter Throbheart, the new student from England," Violet replied dreamily, imitating the boy's accent.

"Oh, England, the birthplace of William Shakespeare," said Becky, her enthusiasm for the playwright overshadowing her interest in the good-looking boy.

"And Hunter Throbheart!" Violet added, unwilling to let Becky go off on some tangent about Shakespearean stuff. But now Hunter was preparing to read. Becky wondered if his acting equaled his looks.

"_But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun."_

Once again Becky was forced to stifle giggles at his cheesy, overwrought delivery of the beloved lines. Violet seemed to enjoy it, however. "Ooh, good job, good job!" she called, clapping. Becky rolled her eyes a little at her friend's antics. Thankfully, Mr. Dudley seemed to be of a mind with Becky, and dismissed Hunter with a mere, "Next."

Grinning smugly (though Becky couldn't fathom why) Hunter strode offstage. Violet nearly hyperventilated as the blond boy brushed by her.

"I hope he's Romeo!" she whispered to Becky.

"Really? He's not a very good actor," Becky whispered back.

"Oh?" said Violet, "Well, maybe he was a little too dramatic… Hey, I didn't know Tobey was auditioning."

Becky turned her eyes to the stage in surprise. It was true; Tobey was already standing in the middle of the stage, holding his script and the notes Becky had helped him pick up earlier.

"Tobey MacCallister playing the part of Romeo," he said, sounding surprisingly nervous. Becky almost laughed out loud. Tobey as Romeo? That was ridiculous.

Meanwhile onstage, Tobey took one last glance over his script before setting it and his notes (the page with the Wordgirl doodle carefully hidden in the middle) down to the side on the floor. _Well, at least he's memorized_ thought Becky. Hunter Throbheart had not been.

Tobey, like Becky before him, took a deep calming breath. He knew the play inside out, he knew his lines perfectly, and he knew Romeo's character and motivation by heart, now he just needed to show it. He searched for – as cheesy as it sounded to his intellectual mind – the essence of Romeo.

"_But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks?"_ Tobey began, the well-rehearsed words opening up a world of secret nighttime encounters and true love, "_It is the east, and Juliet is the sun."_ Despite the similarity of their accents, Tobey's performance could not have been more different from that of Hunter Throbheart. Where Hunter was pompous and overly dramatic, Tobey was sincere, as if he really was Romeo, not putting on a character. Mr. Dudley looked up, no longer disinterestedly constructing a ship inside a bottle. Tobey continued through the lines describing Juliet, how she outshines the moon and stars. In the wings, Becky grudgingly rethought her opinion of Tobey as Romeo. By the time he said the final lines of the monologue, Mr. Dudley's ship-in-a-bottle was completely forgotten, and Becky was – to her surprise – quite impressed.

"Um, that's all, thank you," Tobey said, all traces of the romantic hero he had been a few moments before gone, replaced now by awkward blushing schoolboy. Before the "thank you" was even quite finished, he was making his way offstage. He fled so quickly that he didn't hear Mr. Dudley remark, "Bravo, Tobey. There may be hope for us after all. Next!"

And so the auditions continued. But for Becky and Tobey, the excruciating wait for the final verdict of who would play their treasured roles had already begun.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading! Please review so I know if you like this. More to come, but I don't know how long it will take what with the end of the school year and other stuff. Wordup! :)


	2. Chapter 2: Cast List

A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed! Sorry it's taken me so long to update, and this chapter isn't very long either. But only 4 days of school left, so more time to write :D I'm having so much fun writing this story :)

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Chapter 2: Cast List

"He still hasn't put up the cast list yet!" Becky moaned as she, Violet, and Scoops made their way back to class from recess the day after the auditions.

"Relax, Becky," Violet told her frustrated friend, "I'm sure Mr. Dudley will put it up at lunch."

"But lunch is hours away! I'll die from anticipation by then!" Becky wailed.

"Oh, Becky, stop being so… so…" Scoops trailed off, searching for the right word.

"Silly?" suggested Violet helpfully.

"No, something that has to do more with how she's making it seem more bad than it really is."

Becky winced at Scoops' poor grammar, and she wasn't the only one. That incredibly grammatically incorrect sentence was the last straw for the boy genius who had been walking behind the trio down the hall. Tobey felt compelled to help out the poor floundering imbecile.

"I believe the word you're looking for is 'melodramatic,'" said Tobey, startling the three of them, who hadn't noticed his presence, "And there is no such thing as 'more bad.' What you should say instead is 'worse.' Also, you used 'more' twice in one sentence."

Becky giggled. "I don't know, Tobey, I seem to recall you making the same mistake. How did you put it? 'Taste the bitter taste?'"

Tobey glared at her, but underneath he was surprised she had even remembered; most of the time no one paid attention to him unless he was attacking them with robots.

"Um, what's 'melodramatic' mean?" Scoops said, breaking the tension between the two grammar rivals.

Tobey rolled his eyes, but before he could reply Becky was spewing out the definition as though she couldn't help herself. Tobey couldn't decide if he thought the habit was a sign of intelligence, or if it was merely annoying. Though it did put him in mind of a certain young super-heroine…

"Melodramatic: it means to act in a way that's exaggerated, theatrical, or over-the-top, too dramatic for the situation." It really was eerie how much Becky sounded like Wordgirl sometimes. But that was silly; he'd already proved that Becky Botsford was _not_ secretly Wordgirl… hadn't he?

"Okay, I think I got it," Scoops said, "So, Becky, stop being so _melodramatic_."

"All right," said Becky, smiling, "But it's still going to be an agonizing wait until lunch."

Tobey would never have said it aloud, but he was positive that Becky had nothing to worry about. He wished he were as confident about his own chances, though.

ooOoo

Moments after the bell signaled the beginning of lunch, a small horde of expectant students had materialized in front of the bulletin board outside Mr. Dudley's classroom. The teacher-turned-director in question now appeared, holding the roll of paper upon which was written the long-awaited decision in his hand.

"All right. Here we go," Mr. Dudley said, unrolling the paper and pinning it to the bulletin board before stepping out of the way. Hunter Throbheart was the first to rush forward and examine the cast list.

"It says here I am to play the part of R—" he began smugly, only to have to stop and look at the paper again. He stared at it a moment longer in disbelief before finishing, "Er, the part of Count Paris."

Becky almost laughed out loud at how perfectly Hunter had been cast. Paris, the man Juliet was supposed to have married, was good-looking and arrogant, but had very little personality. Hunter certainly wouldn't have much difficulty acting that role.

Scoops was the next one to get a glimpse of his name.

"Hmm, it says I'll be playing Mercutio," said Scoops, puzzled, "Who's Mercutio?" He sounded quite put out.

Becky rolled her eyes. Scoops clearly didn't know any more of the play than the famous balcony scene he had auditioned with. Mercutio was actually a great part to have, often considered even more fun to play than Romeo. She was about to tell Scoops who Mercutio was, but now it was Tobey's turn to beat _her_ to an explanation.

"Mercutio is one of Romeo's friends," Tobey said, pushing his way past a brown-haired girl with glasses, "Honestly, didn't you read the play? Mercutio's part is pretty important; he's sort of the leader of Romeo's group of friends, witty, sarcastic, and temperamental." Tobey was getting no response from Scoops. He made one last attempt, "He has a swordfight with Tybalt?"

"A swordfight? Cool!" said Scoops enthusiastically, "I'll start practicing my moves right away!" He bounded off down the hallway, hacking at invisible foes with an imaginary sword. Tobey sighed, irked that the boy seemed not to have heard a single word but 'swordfight.'

Becky smiled, both at Scoops' antics and the fact that at least someone besides herself had read more than one scene of the play. Then she remembered that that someone was Tobey, and wrinkled her nose. But forget about that, there was the cast list! Unfortunately, Tobey stepped up to look at it at the same time she did, and the two of them ended up bumping shoulders. They glared at each other, but neither stepped back to let the other go first. The stare-down lasted only a moment though, the desire to find out their roles winning out over their dislike of each other. Side by side, they examined the paper. As it turned out, their names were not difficult to locate, as they were the first two listed.

_Romeo Montague….Theodore MacCallister_

_ Juliet Capulet…..Becky Botsford_

Once more, the two fifth-graders turned to look at each other, but this time with expressions of disbelief. As if in a comedy, they did a simultaneous double-take at the list. The extreme elation each felt at getting the part they had so wished for was mixed with a sort of horror at the thought of co-starring with their sworn enemy, rendering them both speechless.

Finally, Becky broke the silence. "Congratulations… Romeo."

"You too… Juliet."

The assembled students were thoroughly shocked. The bespectacled dark-haired boy actually fainted.

"Yes, yes, congratulations to both of you," said Mr. Dudley rather unenthusiastically, "You two were definitely the best actors to audition yesterday. But if you would both please move out of the way, as there are other children who would like to see what part they got…"

Becky and Tobey "snapped out of it" and retreated from the board in opposite directions. Tobey disappeared down the hall towards the cafeteria, but Becky fell back to stand by Violet.

"Wow, congratulations, Becky!" Violet said to her best friend.

"Thanks Violet!" Becky replied, the reality of getting to play her favorite character from her favorite play starting to sink in all the way. But before she could get too excited, she remembered, "Oh, but you wanted to be Juliet too."

"It's okay, Becky, you're going to be perfect for the part," said Violet, seeming truly unconcerned, "Let's see what part I did get."

The two girls scanned the list for Violet's name.

"Oh, here!" exclaimed Violet, "It says I'm going to play Juliet's nurse."

Becky smiled. After the auditions, Mr. Dudley had informed them that the school was doing an edited version of the play, to cut down on the time (even as one of Shakespeare's shorter plays, _Romeo and Juliet_ was still rather lengthy for an elementary school production) and to clean up any somewhat adult content. Becky had asked to borrow the shortened version and had quickly (super-speed reading comes in handy) read over it the night before. The Nurse's and Mercutio's more… colorful lines had been eliminated. But the companionship between Juliet and her nurse was still there, of course.

"Hey, Violet, that's perfect!" Becky said excitedly as they stepped back from the cast list, "The Nurse is Juliet's best friend in the play. She's the only one Juliet tells about her secret love with Romeo."

Violet smiled too when she heard this. "Oh, so we get to be best friends in the play too! That's great!" she said happily. "Besides, I don't think I'd really want to have such a big part as Juliet… especially if Tobey's going to be Romeo!"

Becky groaned. "Ugh, I can't believe I'll have to pretend to be in love with _Tobey_ of all people!"

"Hm, maybe it won't be so bad," said Violet, ever the optimist.

"Maybe," said Becky, though she was highly skeptical that anything involving the young evil mastermind could turn out "not so bad." Together, the girls headed into the cafeteria for lunch.

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A/N: Hope you liked how I cast people. The roles of more minor characters will be revealed later.

Huggy: Squeak!

Wordgirl: What's that Huggy?

Huggy: Squeak, squeak!

Wordgirl: You think people should review? So Faeriedust12 will be encouraged to write more of our story?

Huggy: (Nods vigorously) Squeaky, squeak, squeaky!


	3. Chapter 3: Catch

A/N: Thanks so much for reviewing everyone :D I know it's been way too long since I updated... sorry! But you get two chapters to make up for it :)

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Chapter 3: Catch

Throughout the afternoon, Tobey had been in a sort of daze about the outcome of the auditions. The fact that several people had actually come up to him and congratulated him only added to the sense of surrealism; his status as a stuck-up nerd usually kept most of his classmates from acknowledging his presence. It was not until the final bell had rung and Tobey was making his way down the front steps of the school that it finally hit him: he was going to play_ Romeo!_ Much to the surprise of nearby students, Tobey gave a celebratory whoop and leaped over the remaining three steps. Due to his chronic lack of coordination, he stumbled as he landed on the sidewalk and nearly fell flat on his face. He glanced around to see if anyone had witnessed his ungraceful landing. Assured that either no one had seen him, or they were wise enough to pretend they hadn't, Tobey's buoyant mood returned and he practically flew down the street to his house. Such wonderful news called for celebration.

oOoOoOo

Naturally, Tobey's idea of celebration was taking his robots on a building-smashing outing. Tobey chuckled, watching people run screaming from the havoc he had caused while perched safely on the shoulder of one of his robots. His finger was poised above his remote, ready to create more chaos, when a familiar zooming noise sounded behind him. He smiled —could this day get any better? — and turned to face his favorite super heroine.

"Why hello, Wordgirl," he said cordially, "Come to watch the show with me?"

Wordgirl was not amused. "No Tobey, I came to stop you and your robots from destroying the city and scaring the poor citizens out of their wits."

"Ha, as if they had any wits to begin with," Tobey said sardonically.

"That's not true!" Wordgirl said indignantly. Tobey merely raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, okay, maybe they aren't the smartest bunch in the world," she amended, "But that doesn't mean you can just go around terrorizing them!"

"But why not?" said Tobey, "I'm celebrating."

"Funny way of celebrating," Wordgirl muttered, "And what are you celebrating anyways? It's not your birthday or anything."

"I'm celebrating because— Wait, how do you know it's not my birthday?"

"Because your birthday's not until—" she abruptly cut herself off, embarrassed, but Tobey pounced on her half sentence.

"You remembered when my birthday is!" he said triumphantly. Wordgirl opened her mouth to protest, but Tobey held up a hand, "No, no, there's no way you can pretend you only know it for professional purposes like you did with my phone number. You remember my birthday!" He gloated for a moment longer until Wordgirl's glare pulled him back to their original topic. "Ahem, yes, well, I'm obviously not celebrating my birthday today. I'm celebrating the fact that I, Theodore Tobey MacCallister the Third, am going to be playing the leading role in my school's upcoming production of one of literature's most well-known plays… _Romeo and Juliet_!" he ended with a flourish, hoping desperately to impress his not-so-secret crush.

Wordgirl could not suppress a flare of enthusiasm for her all-time favorite play. Unfortunately, this made her somewhat careless.

"I know! I'm so excited the school's doing my favorite play and I really can't believe that I'm going to be Ju…" she trailed off at Tobey's puzzled look and then frantically tried to cover up her slip, "…going to be joo… juh… jumping with joy on opening night! Um… Yay!" She gave a little midair hop and plastered an overly bright smile on her face. _Please don't let Tobey notice, please don't let Tobey notice._ Tobey stared at her suspiciously, and then gave a little shrug. Wordgirl breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, news certainly does travel fast around here," Tobey said, rather disappointed that he hadn't been the first one to tell her, "But you say you'll be there on opening night?"

"Uh… " _Oh, great_ "Yeah, I'll be there… That is, if no crime sprees get in the way."

Despite her hesitation, Tobey was delighted by her response. "Wordgirl's coming to see my debut! Well, that's even more cause for celebration." And with that, he pressed his finger down on the remote, causing his robots to resume their rampage.

"Oh no you don't," said Wordgirl before swooping down with her fist extended and punching out the inner workings of the nearest robot. The machine had barely hit the ground before she was on to the next one, sending its head flying the opposite direction as its body. A powerful kick sent the next robot to the ground, followed swiftly by two more whose heads Wordgirl had smashed together.

Unbeknownst to Wordgirl, the head she had sent flying had crashed into another robot, which in turn had careened into a second robot, which then fell right onto the robot Tobey was standing on. Tobey cried out as his solid platform suddenly disappeared from beneath his feet, but it was mostly just reflex. Even as he plummeted towards the cement, he was relatively unconcerned. Wordgirl was nearby and he had yet to see her miss a catch, even if it was a villain she was rescuing. The ground did seem to be coming at him awfully fast though…

Just as Tobey's panic belatedly kicked in, his descent was abruptly ended and he found himself rising instead. As expected, Wordgirl had swooped in to catch him. What was quite unexpected, however, was the _way_ she had caught him. Tobey did not find himself dangling by his foot, or held up by the back of his shirt, but was instead _cradled in Wordgirl's arms._ He looked at Wordgirl, surprise rendering him mute. Wordgirl, if possible, looked even more shocked than Tobey by this turn of events. As soon as she had heard Tobey's shout, she had changed course to catch him, but three robots had ganged up on her. It had taken precious moments to disable them and by the time she had done so Tobey had been dangerously close to becoming a splat on the sidewalk. There hadn't been a millisecond to spare thinking about _how_ to catch him, it was just imperative that she _did._ And that's why Wordgirl now found herself with her arms full of astonished Tobey. Her first instinct was to drop him again, but since they were two stories above the ground, that was, unfortunately, not a viable course of action. Luckily Tobey seemed too dazed by his close brush with death — or perhaps by his close proximity to Wordgirl — to do anything but blink and blush.

As it was, it was only a matter of seconds before Wordgirl was depositing Tobey safely on the top of a nearby building. Tobey briefly contemplated feigning a stumble over the edge to get Wordgirl to catch him again, but decided not to push his luck. Especially since a quick survey of the street revealed that none of his robots were left standing.

"That was… unexpected," Tobey said, finally finding his voice.

"Look, it's reflex okay!" Wordgirl said defensively.

Tobey grinned. "You mean that's how you _really_ want to catch me all the time."

"Gah! I mean, that's how I catch most people who aren't total weirdoes like you!" she exclaimed, frustrated by Tobey twisting her words.

"I'm not convinced," said Tobey happily.

"You are just— You— Ugh, forget it; I'm just going to go practice my lines," Wordgirl huffed before speeding off in a flash of yellow light.

Tobey was puzzled by her last words. Practice her lines? That was what Tobey needed to do. It almost sounded like Wordgirl meant she was in the play too… but that was silly. Tobey realized then —much to his delight— that Wordgirl had left in such a rush that she had forgotten to call his mother. But now, how to go about getting off the top of this building…


	4. Chapter 4:Just Acting

Chapter 4: Just Acting

"All right, moving on to Scene Five," Mr. Dudley said as Tobey, Scoops, and the boy who had been chosen to play Benvolio — a blond who wore a black vest over a brown turtle-neck — moved offstage, having just finished Act One, Scene Four.

Today was the first day of rehearsal and they were hard at work on Act One. They had made it through the fight in the first scene, and then Paris and Lord Capulet's discussion of Juliet's marriage and Romeo and Benvolio's conversation about Rosalind in the second scene. Then it had been the scene where Becky and Violet made their first appearances, along with Lady Capulet. And now they had just finished Scene Four in which the famous 'Queen Mab' monologue was given by Mercutio — Scoops had done surprisingly well, a much better actor once he figured out that stage directions weren't lines.

"Which scene is Scene Five, Becky?" Violet asked her friend backstage.

"It's the scene where they have the party at the Capulet's house, and then Romeo and Mercutio and some other Montagues crash the party," Becky reminded her.

"Oh right," said Violet, "It's when Romeo first meets Juliet."

Yes, it was that scene. Becky was rather worried about it. She and Tobey had been doing splendidly in their respective roles, barely needing to look at the scripts as they practiced. But now they would have to put their acting talents to the test, especially since this was the scene where Romeo…

Already, Tobey-as-Romeo was making his way towards Becky, looking as nervous as she did.

"Okay, Tobey, so now you take Juliet's hand and then say your line," Mr. Dudley said helpfully from his director's chair. Tobey did as he was told, but it was all either of them could do not to snatch their hands apart.

"_If I profane with my unworthiest hand,"_ Tobey began, "_This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:/ My lips, two blushing pilgrims,"_—well, Tobey certainly was blushing—_ "ready stand/ T o smooth that rough touch with a…"_ he faltered a little, but bravely finished, _"…with a tender kiss."_

Becky quickly began her line, "_Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,__/ __Which mannerly devotion shows in this;/__For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,/ And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss."_ At least Juliet was arguing against kissing… for now.

"_Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?"_ Tobey/Romeo asked.

"_Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer."_

"_O,__ then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do;/ They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair."_

"_Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake."_

"_Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take,"_ Tobey stopped. He knew exactly what was coming, but he was hoping against hope that perhaps Mr. Dudley had decided they didn't really need this part in the play.

"So you two, this is the part where Romeo kisses Juliet for the first time. I trust you to be good enough actors to handle this professionally, okay?" Mr. Dudley said.

Becky and Tobey remained frozen, unable to even look at each other.

"Come on, you tried out for these roles, you knew it was a romance," Mr. Dudley prodded, "Now's as good a time as any to start getting used to it."

The very thought of "getting used to" kissing Tobey made Becky feel nauseous. But Mr. Dudley was right, it was _Romeo and Juliet_; kissing was a necessary part of the romance. Tobey seemed to have come to a similar decision, judging by the 'I'm-determined-to-be-professional-about-this' look on his face. Neither of them dared to breathe as Tobey slowly leaned forward… And then it was all over in one quick peck. Becky barely had time to register the faint, soft touch of Tobey's lips on hers before he had pulled back, blushing furiously.

"There, see, that wasn't so bad," said Mr. Dudley, "Now, if we could please get on with the scene."

Becky gave a mental groan; one kiss down, one more to go in this scene, and countless more to come. But in reality, she supposed it hadn't been _too_ terrible.

"_Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged." _ Tobey spoke the line too quickly, but that was fine by Becky — better to just get the scene over with.

"_Then have my lips the sin that they have took,"_ she said, in a similar rush.

"_Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged!/ Give me my sin again."_ Tobey started to lean forward to place another quick, barely-there kiss, when Mr. Dudley stopped him.

"Hold on, Tobey," he said, "I'd like you to make this kiss a little longer. Remember, you're supposed to be in love."

Tobey swallowed hard, but nodded. He looked at Becky and bit his lower lip in an apologetic gesture. Becky gave a tiny shrug; it wasn't his fault they had to kiss. Tobey gave a little nod and leaned forward once more. This time, Becky was definitely aware of the meeting of their lips, though the pressure was very light. Tobey had closed his eyes, seeming too embarrassed to keep them open. Their noses bumped a little, so Becky tilted her head ever so slightly. But now suddenly their mouths fit scarily close together. Tobey's eyes flew open, looking very bright blue this close up. Unsure, Tobey pressed against Becky's lips just a little harder before quickly retreating. They both hoped it had been enough of a kiss to appease Mr. Dudley.

"All right you two, that was pretty good,"— they were both relieved to hear Mr. Dudley's approval— "We're definitely going to have run that part of the scene again, though, but not today. In fact, rehearsal time is over for today, so we're going to have to finish Scene Five next time." Mr. Dudley lifted his megaphone so that the kids backstage could hear too, "Okay, everyone, we're done with rehearsal for today. Good work all of you. See you tomorrow afternoon!"

oOoOoOo

"Wow, Becky," said Violet as they walked down the street together after rehearsal, "You actually kissed Tobey! Was it really horrible?"

"I don't know," Becky said, "I guess it was mostly just… strange."

"Not gross?"

"No, not particularly."

And it was true. Though Becky's first reaction had been to say that of course it had been horrible and gross, the kiss really hadn't been all that bad. It had been weird that was for sure, but not horrible. It didn't mean she liked Tobey or anything, right? It was just acting. Becky sighed. This was going to be a very awkward play.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so I know they wouldn't really make fifth graders kiss in a school play, but I just couldn't resist! Besides, they wouldn't really do _Romeo and Juliet_ as a play at an elementary school either, right? Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it and didn't think it was too creepy or anything!


	5. Chapter 5: Revelation

**A/N:** Hi everyone! I'm alive and I actually wrote more of the story! I apologize to all of you for leaving this story hanging for so long, I just got so busy with school and I had writer's block on this story too! D: You probably don't care, but I'll tell you anyways: I got the part of Helena in my school's play _A Midsummer Night's Dream_! It's my favorite Shakespeare play and I've been dying to play Helena! Only bad news is that I'll get even busier what with rehearsals :P Hey, now both me and Wordgirl have the female leads in a Shakespeare play :D And now, the latest chapter of Becky and the Bard. Enjoy :D

* * *

Chapter 5: Revelation

The next day at rehearsal Mr. Dudley was focused on choreographing the brawl scene at the beginning of the play so that no one got their eye poked out. Since neither Romeo nor Juliet was in this scene, Mr. Dudley had told Tobey and Becky to practice the Balcony Scene on their own. They both understood the language and were good enough actors that it shouldn't have been a problem. However, the thought of working on such an intimate scene all by themselves, with no one actually ordering them to do things, was rather intimidating.

The sounds of clattering feet, fake swords smashing together, and Mr. Dudley shouting to be heard over it all was suddenly muted as the door to the auditorium swung shut, leaving Becky and Tobey alone in the hallway. They each nervously clutched their script (though they'd memorized their lines already) and carefully avoided making eye-contact with the other. The silence was becoming uncomfortable, when Tobey finally spoke.

"Well, I guess we'd better get started."

"Yeah," Becky agreed unenthusiastically.

"Maybe I should skip my monologue at the beginning so we can just work on the parts with both of us talking?" Tobey nervously suggested.

"Um, okay," said Becky, "Could you just say the last couple lines before I start?"

"Sure," he replied, then shifted into his Romeo personae, "…_See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand!/ O, that I were a glove upon that hand,/ that I might touch that cheek!"_

_ "Ay me!"_ Becky said, also slipping into her character. And so it went. But even though they were getting into their performances, they were still not quite acknowledging the other's presence. It was a strange scene that was acted out in the hallway, with Romeo and Juliet not even looking at each other as they proclaimed their love. When they reached the end of it —having found no places where kissing was specifically _called_ for— there was yet another awkward silence, both of them thinking the same thing, but not willing to say it aloud. A few muffled cries were heard from inside the auditorium (Scoops had tripped over another boy's dropped sword and fallen into someone else, causing a domino effect that had half the actors flat on their faces).

Then Becky hesitantly said, "I don't think that went right."

"I know," said Tobey. Then after a short pause, "Let's put our scripts down so we can use our hands." They each reluctantly set their scripts on the floor.

"We should probably figure out some movements that will show… well, that our characters are in… um, love," Becky said.

"Okay," said Tobey, "Did you have any ideas?"

"Well, maybe we could…" Becky began, but trailed off as her super-hearing suddenly picked up cries of distress from near the city docks. A buzz of electricity confirmed her fear that the Energy Monster had somehow escaped the ocean where she and Huggy had left him.

"Actually, Tobey," she said quickly, "I have to go stop the— uh… go to the bathroom! Be back in a minute."

"Um, Okay," Tobey replied, somewhat confused.

Becky didn't wait a moment longer, hurrying into the auditorium to get Bob, who was sitting in the audience and enjoying watching the chaos onstage. She grabbed his arm and muttered, "Energy Monster," before racing out the auditorium door. Luckily everyone else was too occupied with the scene onstage to notice.

Back out in the hallway, though, Tobey MacCallister thought it rather strange Becky had gone into the auditorium when the bathrooms were around the corner.

oOoOoOo

Fifteen minutes later, with the Energy Monster more or less securely trapped in an old mayonnaise jar beneath a park bench, Wordgirl and Huggyface were flying at top speed towards the elementary school. In through the hall window, a flash of yellow light, and Bob and Becky Botsford were calmly rounding the corner into the hallway where Tobey was seated against the wall, making notes in his script with a pencil. He looked up as they came into view and his eyes widened in disbelief. He glanced from them to the auditorium door and back again.

"But, you never came out of the auditorium," said Tobey, bewildered.

"The auditorium?" said Becky, puzzled, and then she realized her slip up. "Oh, right! You see, I had to check on Bob to make sure he wasn't getting into trouble" – Bob squeaked indignantly at this – "and then we ended up going out the auditorium door and circling around to the front of the school and going in that way and _then_ going to the bathroom… and now we're back here," she finished, knowing how lame her story sounded.

Tobey looked skeptical, but said merely, "I see. Well, while you were busy taking your circuitous route to the bathroom, I was working on ideas for the Balcony Scene…

oOoOoOo

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Wordgirl, a teenager listening to his ipod while riding his skateboard through the park had crashed after attempting a particularly tricky move. Though the boy was unhurt, his skateboard had careened into an old mayonnaise jar sitting under a park bench. The jar had smashed and the Energy Monster had wasted no time in draining the power from boy's ipod before speeding off in search of more energy.

oOoOoOo

Bob had wandered back to the auditorium to watch the rehearsing in there and Tobey and Becky were standing side by side, peering at Tobey's script. At first they had stood awkwardly far from each other, but as they got caught up in plans for the scene they had drifted closer together until their shoulders were brushing. And neither seemed to mind.

"…and then right here when I say my line, I'll take your hands," said Tobey, his finger on the script.

"Yeah, that's perfect," Becky said enthusiastically. Then, cautiously, she said, "You know, you're really good at this."

"Of course I am, I'm a genius, remember?" said Tobey. Becky looked up from the script, indignant, but then she saw Tobey's smile. He was joking! Becky smiled back and shoved him lightly with her shoulder, giggling.

"Hey!" he said, starting to laugh as well as he shoved her back. A playful shoving contest ensued, until a push from Tobey made Becky stumble and fall flat on her bum. They were both laughing so hard that it was several moments before Tobey was able to reach out a hand to help her. She clasped it and he hauled her up. Becky managed to say, "Thanks," in between lingering bouts of giggles.

"You too," said Tobey sincerely, "You're not too bad at figuring out Shakespeare yourself. You're almost as smart as Wordgirl sometimes." He surprised himself by saying it –he hadn't thought anyone could hold a candle to his brilliant crush – but it was true.

"Thanks," Becky repeated with a bright smile. It seemed to her that that was the first time Tobey had ever complimented her as Becky Botsford, and not Wordgirl.

"Well, should we start trying out some of the stage directions we added?" Tobey asked, without a trace of the unwillingness that they had both shared earlier.

"Okay," said Becky, equally agreeable. But just then a loud crash sounded, and it hadn't come from the auditorium. It was followed by several screams and cries of "Energy Monster!" Tobey and Becky looked at each other in shock, and then Becky raced down the hall to the closest window. Tobey followed, wanting to get a glimpse of what was going on. Becky berated herself for not paying enough attention. She should have heard everything with her super-hearing long before the Energy Monster had gotten this big and this close. She and Tobey reached the window and stared out at the pandemonium the giant electrical being had created – telephone poles crushed, people running and screaming every which way, and the Energy Monster growing larger by the minute. Becky quickly turned and ran back towards the auditorium to get Bob, leaving Tobey watching the scene outside the window. Her monkey sidekick was already in the hallway hurrying towards her when she rounded the corner. Becky snatched him up, muttered a frantic, "Word up!" and as Wordgirl turned to zoom down the hall… but she was frozen in her tracks. Tobey was standing in the middle of the hall with a flabbergasted expression that confirmed her worst fears.

"You– You– You're— "

"Oh no!" Wordgirl cried as Tobey spluttered incoherently and Captain Huggyface began to screech, "You weren't supposed to follow me! You were supposed to stay by the window! No, no, no!"

"You're Wordgirl!" Tobey finally blurted out, his eyes wide with shock, "Of course! I was right all along, ever since I came over to your house that day and guessed you were Wordgirl – how did you manage to save your house and not have I notice? And that's why Becky's never there when Wordgirl is and why Wordgirl sounded like she was in the play and why Becky knows so many words and why Wordgirl knows so many things about Becky's friends and why Becky acts so weird sometimes and, and…" he had to pause for air. "Well, this explains everything!" he finished triumphantly. Then, in a much softer, quite incredulous voice, he murmured, "_I kissed Wordgirl!_" and fainted dead away. Instinctively, Wordgirl caught him so he wouldn't bang his head and lowered him to the floor. Then she turned to Captain Huggyface.

"Oh, Huggy, what am I going to do?" she moaned. Huggy could only shrug, but then a loud electrical zap sounded uncomfortably close to the school and all the lights went out. It was fine in the hallway on account of the windows, but judging by the shrieks the auditorium had been plunged into total darkness. Huggy squeaked and pointed frantically in the direction of the window. Wordgirl sighed.

"I guess you're right. We can deal with this later, but for right now, we've got an Energy Monster to vanquish. Let's go!"

oOoOoOo

Tobey's eyes blinked open and for a brief moment he wondered why he was lying on the floor of the hallway. Then he remembered Becky… and Wordgirl… and that Becky was Wordgirl! He picked himself up, still boggled by his revelation. A crash sounded from outside and Tobey rushed back to the window. The Energy Monster was standing in the street in front of the school, so close Tobey had to crane his neck to see the top of it. The only thing keeping it at bay was a darting red flash – Wordgirl. But it didn't look like she could hold up much longer. The Energy Monster lashed out at her and she was just a millisecond too slow. There was a zapping sound and Wordgirl was propelled backwards, her hair sticking out every which way. Tobey felt static crackle through his own hair as he willed her to be okay. Wordgirl shook her head, snapping out of her daze, and flew back into battle.

Tobey felt completely helpless as he watched from behind the window. He couldn't even call his robots because the Energy Monster would just drain their electricity and get stronger. There had to be some way to trap it. How do you trap energy… or store it. That's it! Maybe the Energy Monster could be trapped in a battery! And he had a battery right in his back pocket, the one in his robot remote! He whipped out the remote control and snapped the battery out of the back, then threw open the window.

"Wordgirl!" he shouted as loud as he could. She paused in her Energy Monster battling long enough to glance at him. "Wordgirl, catch!" And with that, he flung the battery towards her with all his strength. Which wasn't very much as it turned out; the battery bounced to the ground an embarrassing three feet from the window. But nevertheless, Wordgirl swooped down and scooped it up.

"A battery?" she asked, quickly looking over the object in her hand.

"I thought it might be possible to trap the Energy Monster in it," Tobey explained.

"All that energy in one little battery?" Wordgirl said dubiously.

"One little battery designed by a boy genius to hold a year's worth of robot remote charge," Tobey countered smugly.

"Ah. You know, this might just work. Thanks Tobey!" and without wasting another moment, she flew back up into the fray leaving Tobey with hearts in his eyes and a blush.

"Okay you big lightning bolt, prepare to be vanquished!" Wordgirl shouted at the Energy Monster. As the creature turned its huge head towards her, Wordgirl zoomed in close and touched the end of the battery to the center of its chest. The Monster roared in rage, but was pulled inexorably into the tiny battery. With a loud pop, the Energy Monster disappeared into the battery, leaving behind nothing more than a crackle of static electricity that made both Wordgirl and Tobey's hair stand on end. In the sudden quiet, the two children looked at each other, eyes wide, and then burst into giggles of relief. As the people of the city began slowly to emerge from their hiding places, Wordgirl flew back in the window to land next to Tobey. Captain Huggyface was left by himself in front of the school, but he didn't seem to mind as he smiled and posed for the growing crowd of fans.

"It actually worked!" Tobey exclaimed happily, his hair still zapped-looking.

"Yeah, that was a great idea with the battery," Wordgirl agreed, shaking her head to return her hair to its usual style. "What should we do with it now?" she asked, holding up the Energy Monster-containing little object.

"It would probably still work in my remote," he said, pulling the device from his back pocket again, "I'd been meaning to recharge it anyways." He took the battery from Wordgirl and set about putting in back into the remote. Something about Tobey's matter-of-fact manner combined with his wild hairdo struck Wordgirl as terribly funny, and she began to giggle uncontrollably. Tobey looked up, confused.

"What?"

"Y-you're ha-ha-hair!" she gasped between giggles, causing Tobey to blush and attempt to smooth down the unruly blond mess. Without thinking, Wordgirl reached up and replaced his hand with her own, getting the hair back to normal quite quickly. "There," she said, then returned her gaze to Tobey's face. She blinked to see his wide eyes and undiminished blush, and then whipped her hands behind her back with a squeak. Tobey shook his head, clearing away the dazed look, then gave an embarrassed cough and stared determinedly at his shoes. After a moment's awkward silence (during which Wordgirl was most certainly _not_ thinking that Tobey was cuter than she'd thought he was) Tobey spoke.

"Um, I guess you should change back to Becky before anybody comes looking for us," he said quietly.

"Ohmygosh that's right!" exclaimed Wordgirl, going into total freak-out mode, "You know my secret identity! Oh no, oh no, what am I gonna do? You can't – somebody's gonna –"

"Hey," said Tobey softly, "I– I won't tell anybody."

"What?" Wordgirl asked incredulously.

Tobey himself was rather surprised by what he had said, but he couldn't very well take it back now could he? He smiled shyly, "Um, yeah, I'll keep it a secret," a thought occurred to him, "Oh, but in return you have to promise not to tell any of the other villains I helped Wordgirl."

Wordgirl smiled back. "Okay, it's a deal," she said, sticking out a red-gloved hand. Tobey took it and they shook, sealing the deal. Just when Tobey would have pulled his hand back, Wordgirl gripped harder and met his eyes. "Thanks, Tobey," she said with such solemn sincerity that he nearly blushed again. She let go of his hand and he rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly.

"Er, no problem," he mumbled, and Wordgirl giggled. Then from down the hall came the noise of the door to the auditorium opening. Wordgirl gasped and quickly took a step back, touching two fingers to the star in the middle of her chest and murmuring, "Word up!" Tobey was momentarily blinded by a flash of yellow light, and when Mr. Dudley came racing around the corner Wordgirl was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, Tobey, Becky, thank goodness you two are okay," Mr. Dudley said, his monotone voice not matching his relieved words, "We're so lucky we have Wordgirl to swoop in and save the day. But due to the Energy Monster scare, we will be cutting rehearsal short today. So you're free to go home." And with that he returned to the auditorium to clean up the mess of swords and scripts that littered the stage. Becky turned to Tobey.

"We never did get to try out the new ideas for the balcony scene," Becky said, actually sounding disappointed.

Before he could chicken out, Tobey blurted out, "Um, maybe we could go over to my house to work on it?" He tapped his forefingers together apprehensively.

Becky took a moment to consider this. She probably shouldn't go over to the house of an evil villain who had just learned her secret identity. But on the other hand, he _had_ just promised not to tell anyone, and he _had_ just come up with a great idea for defeating the Energy Monster, and she _was_ excited about getting the scene right finally… "Okay."

Tobey's face lit up. "Really?"

"Sure," she said, smiling at his enthusiasm.

"O-okay! I guess I'll just call my mother and have her pick us up?"

"That sounds fine."

Tobey was quite proud of himself for not spontaneously combusting with excitement. Becky Botsford, a.k.a. _Wordgirl_, was coming over to his house!


End file.
